Utopia's Children
by ZabuFanfics
Summary: When subjects of a massive human experimentation project escape their cage, will they find freedom, or will the world they were hidden away from provide them only with confinement and suffering? Freedom comes at a price that some may be unable to pay and some may find solace only in death. AU. Rated M for later chapters.


The air smells like smog and the faint but familiar scent of blood. The air is filled more with the noises of demolition and far off screams echoing through the narrow, dilapidated streets of this once proud city. Someone out there is probably about to lose their life to this city- it's corruption, it's filth, it's refuse- like a sacrifice offered up to an angry, merciless god. Lives are lost here- be it to violence or disease or what the powers that manage their weak choke hold they have on this place's law- more than humans can create new life, and faster than we can evolve. Somewhere down the line, mankind went bad- not just here but apparently everywhere. It's something I've only just now recently have begun to learn, seeing as I've lived trapped within walls far beneath the filth and refuse of this world.

And yet, above it all I'm filled with a strange sense of calm. The air doesn't smell sterile, like cleaning agents and medicine, and it is hardly stagnant. Instead it blows passed me and over my now moist skin on a current that sweeps upwards toward the heavens and the stars that can hardly be seen through the glare of city lights. The world I can see from the balcony I look over is vast- crowded with crumbling buildings and curving, tangled streets weaving in and out, but still there's an overwhelming feeling of freedom. I can escape this city. There won't be four white walls keeping me bound to one place. There are no eyes watching me- at least, eyes of people I despise.

"Jace!" The voice of my one companion calls from the room back inside. I pretend not to hear, just so I can hear them call my name again. It's still new, still fresh. It's almost like music to my ears, especially when it's said by them- by her. "Hey! Jace!"

"Mmn?" I finally respond, gazing over my shoulder. There, sitting on the bed and draped in one of the robes provided by the hotel that seems several sizes too large for her skinny body is my companion- the girl with whom I finally obtained my freedom: Liliana. At least, that's what she decided to be called. I had no qualms with it, that name as beautiful as she herself is. Apparently it was something she saw on a flier clinging to an old wall we passed by during our escape. A diamond in the rough, I suppose.

"Come inside. You'll be seen if you hang out there too long!" She calls out, shifting around on the mattress in an almost nervous manner.

"What are you talking about, no one would be able to see us from up here. I got us into a room on such a high floor for that very reason." I sigh as I turn all the way around and lean back casually on the railing. She makes a face, her eyebrows knitting together in frustration.

"You know very well that Dominaria could possibly have eyes everywhere. They practically run this city, there's probably no place they can't peer into and see." She groans. "So get in here before I come out there and drag you back in here!"

"Alright, alright, I'm coming, mistress." I sigh, although I keep a smile on my face as I look out towards the crumbling city one last time. Honestly I don't mind confining myself to a room again if it's to be with her. She's the girl I swore to protect, the girl I love. Without her, I'd still be trapped within those old walls, wishing for death. How could I ever possibly tell a person like that "no"?

I walk back into the room, turning to close the sliding door behind me and to close the curtains. By the time I've turned around, though, I come to find Liliana has gotten her hands on my knife again. It's really the only weapon I could get my hands on. Guns are controlled completely by the police forces, and even among their ranks firearms of any kind are scarce. And a random blunt object picked up from any crumbling alleyway would hardly suffice. It's a miracle I'd gotten my hands on it at all, and now Liliana has gotten her hands on the thing.

Again.

"L-Liliana, stop!" I exclaim, but of course she doesn't listen. Instead she does what she always insists on doing when my back is turned, or when I can't stop her in time. With what can only be described as a thoughtful if not totally apathetic expression, she runs the blade across her wrist. Blood immediately bubbles up from the freshly made wound and onto the white sheets below her and the fluffy, ivory fabric of the robe. "God dammit, Lili..." I reach out and take her by the arm, cupping my hand over her wound and looking around for something to cover it.

"Why are you so concerned every time? You know what I am, and you know stuff like this won't even matter..." She mutters in an annoyed tone, like I've ruined her fun.

"Because harming yourself is a horrible habit to have, maybe?" I snap back, still looking for something within arms reach to cover her wrist. The only thing I can find is a box of tissues, and they're on the other side of the room. "You shouldn't do these kinds of things to yourself!"

"Why? It's not like it's going to kill me." She shrugs, looking away and using her free hand to brush away the wet hair hanging in her face. "Soon that wound will close up, and whatever blood I use will replenish itself. My skin doesn't even scar. I wouldn't do these sorts of things to myself if it actually did ugly stuff like that."

"It's the principal of the thing! Just because you've been given this power doesn't mean you should make use of it this way. It's cruel... selfish, even..." I lift my hand to look at her wrist. Her lily-white skin is stained with blood, but I can already see the wound beginning to close, leaving behind only what had managed to bleed from her.

"Does it really bother you that much? I mean, you make use of _your_ powers all the time. I mean, you're the one who got us into this hotel that not even some politicians could get into with them, got us directions to this place, reduced every person who came after us to vegetables- all with those powers of yours. If you use them so often, why can't I?"

"Cutting yourself all the time isn't going to help us. You only do it because you want to- only because you can."

"I didn't do this just to hear you lecture me, idiot..." Liliana grumbles under her breath. "You aren't cursed with a body that doesn't age or scratch or die. You take your mortality for granted. I've been around and been apart of Dominaria longer than you can comprehend. I'm a lot more messed up than you think..."

"Just... just shut up, alright. I know it's hard to empathize with you about this, but I still wish you'd stop." I sigh before looking down at her wrist. If she's going to act totally on selfish impulses, then so will I. So, without bothering to ask, I lower my head and press my lips against her injury- closing, but still bleeding. She must have put a lot more force into the cut than I thought. The bitter, metallic taste of her blood fills my mouth. It's not exactly a taste I enjoy, but it's one I can stand. Slowly, I run my tongue down the length of her arm, all the way down to the inside of her elbow where the blood had flowed down to and pooled. She mewls lightly, shuddering as I gently lick her arm clean, raking my tongue along and sucking on her skin.

"Nmm..." She moans behind tightly closed lips, jerking slightly, but in no attempt to pull herself away. "Jace..."

"Taking another shower would be a real extravagant waste of water." I pull away to speak. "So allow me, at least, the pleasure of cleaning up your mess."

"'The pleasure' is it?" Liliana smirks, reaching around with her other arm to pull me closer to her. She runs her hands slowly down my back. I can feel her light touch through the thin fabric of my shirt completely, and I can't help but shiver in response. "I suppose... I mean, I'm not going to stop you. Think of it as a reward for keeping me safe for as long as you already have. My body is all I really have to repay you. Though, apparently it's a lot more valuable than I consider it to be..."

"Don't talk about yourself like that-"

"But you'll accept my offer, won't you?" She cuts me off. "A body that doesn't bruise or scar, that erases breaks and cuts as if they were never even there... My body even treats pregnancy like a wound or a disease and does with it what it does with any injury. Maybe I'm a little twisted myself, but might that be any man's dream?"

"I..." I stumble and stammer as she reaches back toward my chin, cupping my face with her hand before allowing it with drift down my neck, stroking my skin with the tips of her fingers.

"You're the only person I want, the only person I'd ever allow to indulge in what I am. My body has never, truly belonged to me. It only feels comfortable I offer it up to you, at least as a token of my thanks. Thanks for coming with me, protecting me and..." She looked down at her wrist, the wound she had made completely gone. "... for worrying about me the way you do."

"Stop talking about yourself like you're an object you can give away to people..." I finally manage, freeing her arm and wrapping my arms around her form. The bathrobe slips from her shoulders and falls loosely near her chest. Her body us warm and still wet from her shower. "You're no longer just an object like you were to those bastards from Dominaria. You're your own person now- you're Liliana."

"My own person..." Liliana parrots, her lips hardly even moving as she speaks in a quiet, soft voice. The concept must be new to her, and like she said, there's the chance she might have been apart of Dominaria's human experimentation schemes long before I was even brought there- offered up to those animals like a pig to the slaughter. It's probably been a long time since someone told her she was a person and not just some object or mere's a case to hold the hopes for a later generation.

But Liliana is a person to me.

"Then... could you..." She begins to ask. "Could you make me feel like a person? I want to be made to feel like I'm important... not as a human experiment or as an object of desire... I want to feel I'm important to someone just as me... as Liliana."

"You've always been an important person to me, Liliana. Ever since the day we first met..." I practically whisper in her ear. I can feel her body lightly shiver in her arms.

"Wasn't that not too long ago, though?"

"No, before that. It's... probably something you don't even remember. You probably didn't even know what was going on, but it was shortly after I had been sent to Dominaria's compound. Or... at least, it felt like a short while. They kept me asleep when they changed me, and when I woke up they saw it fit for me to use what they had given me." I mutter.

I truly despise delving into my own memory to look back on the days I spent being an experiment and a tool of someone else's will. But one day stands out as being the single light in that darkness. The day I finally met Liliana- although at that time she was introduced to me by the name she'd been given as a human experiment: Vitality.

"I was set up in a room completely separate from you and told to locate and read your thoughts. I hadn't cried even for a second since I'd been sold off and changed, but... when I delved into your mind... I finally cried for the first time."

"What? Are my thoughts really that sad?" Liliana asks.

"More than you're aware, it seems. To read the mind of someone totally broken, who only has memories of cages and walls and one-way mirrors... it's a sad existence, and I realized I was being faced with my fate. I delved as deep as I could and I found no memories of the outside world. It was then I came to realize the world I had been sent to. But..." I pause, unwrapping my arms from around her body to cup her face in my hands. "I think I was more moved to know that there was someone else just like me. I wasn't alone, even though we couldn't see one another or speak. Every day when I woke up I'd search for those familiar thoughts and read them again and again. I got to know you without even speaking to you or seeing you."

"That's an awfully creepy way to get to know someone..." Liliana begins, raising an eyebrow before a smile spreads across her lips. "But I'm glad... out of all the people who could have read my mind, it was you. So I guess the_ total invasion of my privacy_ can be overlooked."

"H-hey! I wasn't doing it to invade your privacy, I... I did it to stay sane. Your thoughts were an anchor, and your thoughts lead me to you when the breakout happened. I... I wanted to find the person who's thoughts kept me alive. I owe you my sanity, along with everything else."

"Well, then, I suppose you can start by giving me your love." Liliana stated simply as she slipped out of the confines of the robe draped over her form. The moist, fluffy fabric came to rest around her hips, leaving her bare and undefended. "And we'll see about the rest later."

"Liliana..." It takes every inch of my willpower not to look down and greedily gaze at her body now exposed to me. I want to savor her bit by bit instead of taking her all in at once. I want to pace myself or else I'll get in way over my head and drown in my feelings for this girl. So, instead of going all in and giving in to my carnal desires I begin by leaning in and pressing the most chaste of kisses against her soft lips. Then her cheek. Then her neck. Her shoulder, collarbone, her breasts- I want to kiss every last inch of her.

I hardly know what love is- it's a luxury that was never really made itself known in my life since I was small. But, even so, I know for a fact the feelings brewing inside of me- chaotic and uncontrollable like a storm- are those of love.

I love Liliana. And I'll never let anyone take her away from me. I'll give her all of my love- as well as my honor and trust. I'll even lay down my life if it's for her. I'd gladly die if I knew she'd be able to continue living outside the chilling grasp of Dominaria.

I'd gladly... die...

* * *

><p>The following morning it's cold enough for us to see our breath and low-hanging, light gray clouds that brush against the tips of that remains of the tallest buildings promise snow. Early morning fog drifts among the rubble of the overcrowded city that has hardly even begun to wake up. As me and Liliana take the back exit of the hotel, it feels almost like we're the only two people alive in these partial ruins. The peace is both welcome and unnerving.<p>

Liliana tugs at the knitted beanie she's wearing so that the edge just barely touches her eyebrows before stuffing her hands into the coat obviously meant for a much larger man. Her outfit seems impossibly mismatched, but when we first escaped we really hadn't the luxury to contemplate our wardrobe. We found most of what we're wearing from a vendor that sold work uniforms and everything else in garbage. I follow her lead in attempting to cover her identity with the clothes she had on and draw up the hood of my jacket.

"It's so quiet..." She practically whispers as we slowly make our way down the alley instead of heading out into the main street. Narrow passageways and through old, unoccupied buildings is more of the route we'll need to take, even if it means taking us longer to navigate our way out of this labyrinth of a city. "You don't think they issued a lock-in, would you?"

"We would have heard the announcement. And even if that's the case all we need to do is stay out of sight. If someone out there is hunting us down, trust me, I'll be able to sense it." I assure her as I take her gloved hand. "I'll get us out of this place safe, I promise."

"And what will we do once we get out of the city? Do we just keep running?"

"I guess I never planned too far ahead. Maybe we'll have to, but I doubt they'll chase us forever."

"You don't know the people in Dominaria like I do, Jace. They lost a lot of what they had built that day we escaped. They aren't just going to back down."

"I'm sure after this gigantic blunder they'll stop getting funding from the government. Can't chase after a bunch of little runaways without the funds to do so."

"Yes, but you need to understand, they promised humanity a way to better themselves- to begin evolution again. Humans been trapped as we are for so long all while the earth becomes less and less habitable. Things have evolved without us, gone ahead while we all stopped making advancements. They promised this world a chance to thrive again, they'll find the money just by promoting their goal. People can turn a blind eye to the process so long as they're given results."

"Then... I suppose we'll just have to run forever."

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"As long as you're here with me, I don't care what happens."

We continue to zig and zag through and between buildings while we fill the air with quiet conversation. All we can really do is continue to be on the move until we're forced to stop- either by the city's heavily-enforced curfew or by other means. Other means, such as freezing cold rain.

Instead of light, fluffy snow like we had imagined, the thick clouds above instead drenched the city in icy winter rain. The deluge is heavy enough that we can hardly keep our eyes open or see where we're going. Any noise a pursuer could possibly make could be drowned out by the torrent, and there are no real positives to slinking around in the rain. I'm not sure about Liliana, but at the very least I'm susceptible to hypothermia. So, in the end, we're forced to take shelter in an abandoned parking garage that's only half standing. Most of what is left of the structure is a pile of rubble the city has yet to remove, and the only thing keeping people out is a sign and a roll of bright yellow "DANGER DO NOT CROSS" tape, which does nothing to convince us.

"It's awfully late in the season for rain." Liliana remarks as she stands right at the edge of our shelter, looking up at the clouds as if they'd released the shower on purpose. "If it were even a blizzard we wouldn't have this much of a problem."

"We'll just have to wait it out." I sigh as I lean against a pillar nearest her and slowly drift down to the floor. "With any luck it won't last long, or it will become cold enough to where it will turn to snow."

"Hmph..." Liliana mumbles, looking angrily out at the horrific weather one last time before turning and taking a seat next to me. She shuffles close and wraps her arms around me. "You feel cold."

"I'm okay, just a little wet. My clothes aren't completely soaked through, so I should be fine, so long as we stay dry." She says I'm cold, but I feel warmer already with her pressed up against me, sharing her warmth. "No one would be caught dead out in a storm like this. They'll be forced to take shelter as much as we are. Whoever Dominaria has sent after us now, they won't be able to look for us in a downpour like this."

"That's where you're only half-right, boy." A third, unfamiliar voice rumbles all around us, echoing through the dilapidated parking structure. With a gasp, both me and Liliana turn and rise to our feet, coming face to face with who had spoken- or _what_ had spoken.

He has at least the features of a man, maybe he had possibly been normal before. But even so, there was no human I have ever seen at least that looked at all like him. He towers over us, the top of his head nearly touching the cement ceiling above, and his muscle mass seems almost impossibly large, bulging out to what seems like almost the point of bursting through his pale skin. Whatever is pumping through his veins is much more dark and inky than blood, and stands out almost black against his pallid coloring. He sneers at us hungrily, but his eyes would be at home on someone more lifeless, given how dead and empty they are.

"You'll find that there are some people who don't mind the rain."

"Who are you!?" I snap, brandishing my paltry weapon and pushing Liliana behind me.

"Can't you figure that out on your own, boy? Delving into the minds of others is your gift, after all." The man chuckles, though it sounds more like he's mocking me than telling me. I grunt in anger, doing just that. What a fool, leaving himself open to let me explore his thoughts. He's obviously a threat and I'm nowhere near merciful to people who have come to put us- or at least Liliana- in harms way. I'll find his name and rip it out of his memory, along with everything else.

Except there's nothing.

I search and search and search, coming up empty every single time. There might as well be no one standing before me, or a corpse already devoid of thought. The muscular behemoth notices my surprise and my frustration and laughs through clenched teeth.

"What the hell..." I mutter, taking a cautionary step back.

"What's going on, Jace?" Liliana asks, clinging onto my jacket. "What's wrong?"

"What... are you!?" I ask angrily, only answered with booming laughter at first.

"My cohorts from Dominaria got a little sick and tired of collecting mind-raped corpses of people they'd sent after you. It certainly couldn't have been the work of Vitality, so we could only assume it was you, tearing apart the minds of our comrades. So it became a task to give someone the ability to withstand that power." The man begins to explain while starting to pace but hardly drawing near. "After the recent incident they didn't have very many guinea pigs they could risk sending after you, so I was more than happy to volunteer my own body. If it's for bringing back what was stolen from us, it's worth the risk. The powers of Vitality are more precious than someone like you can comprehend."

"We're not going back to Dominaria! We'd rather die than return!" I snap. The man throws back his head, filling the concrete structure with booming, intimidating laughter.

"I'm under orders only to being back Vitality, boy. But you, Clairvoyance, are of no use to Dominaria as you are. I've been given free reign to do to you whatever I feel is necessary. And since there's no point in dragging _you_ back to them, I guess your only other option is to die."

I stagger backward slightly. What does he mean "as I am"? The phrase doesn't sit right with me at all, along with everything else the man said.

"We'll see who's only option is to die here!" I spit, raising my blade and dropping into a stance more suitable for fighting. "And my name isn't Clairvoyance- It's Jace!"

"How absolutely adorable. You gave yourself a name while you were running around playing cat and mouse. But, since we're introducing ourselves, I suppose it's only fair I tell you who I am since you can't retrieve the information yourself." The man reaches behind him for something on his back, hidden by his bulging muscles. Gripping the handle of something unseen he swigs it down with little effort, the sound of metal and shattering concrete overpowering all other noises. Gripped in one of his meaty hands is a gigantic ax that has most definitely seen many years of use. "My name is Garruk Wildspeaker, but I have been born again thanks to Dominaria as Predator. And so long as I bring back Vitality as well as your head, I'll be granted freedom."

"Jace... You can't! There's no way-!" Liliana begins to say before I turn around and firmly rest a hand on her shoulder. "...Jace..."

"I need you to get out of here, Liliana." I insist to her, gripping her shoulder tightly.

"But... you'll be killed!" She cries.

"And you'll go on living in freedom for another day. I don't care what happens to me, so long as you're safe and out of their clutches!" I implore. "I'll hold him off for as long as I can. And, if I'm lucky enough to make it out alive I want you to meet me back at the place where we decided upon our new names. Got it?"

"Jace, I-!"

"I said got it!?" I snap. "Wait for me there! If I'm not back by sunrise tomorrow, I want you to leave this city by all means necessary! This place is no place to wander around all alone!"

"...If you die, I'll never forgive you!" She snaps, her usually lose form growing stiff as she speaks. "If you leave me alone I'll never forgive you!"

"Sounds fair." I tell her with my most convincing smile I can muster. "I'd despise me for leaving you, too." I pause, looking over my shoulder to Garruk- or I suppose he'd rather go by Predator. He seems to be waiting patiently, taking some sick sort of enjoyment in watching me try and shoo Liliana away. "...I love you, Lili."

"And I love you, Jace!" She says with a surprising amount of difficulty before leaning in, like she's about to kiss me, only to lean backward once again. "I'll save that for when you come back."

"Please do." I tell her. She nods, although her expression shows just how little she wants to be compliant. "...Now go!"

Without a word she obeys, turning on her heel and running out into the rain, vanishing into the wall of water and thick fog. I watch until I can hardly see her anymore before turning to my opponent who looks like he's holding back laughter.

"How overwhelmingly touching. It almost makes me sad knowing I'll have to split you two apart." He chuckles jokingly.

"Those words would sound a little more sincere without that shit-eating grin on your face." I snarl, brandishing my weapon once more. I'm no fool, I know my simple knife is no real match for what looks like an ax that could cleave clean through a damn elephant. But still, what choice do I have?

"Don't tell me that you plan on using that little tooth pick!" Predator laughs. "It'll snap in half just as easily as your puny little body."

"Oh yeah, you have a point. Let me just reach into my pockets and pull out a weapon as big as the one you have." I muttered with a healthy dose of snark. "I know I brought a knife to an unnecessarily huge weapon fight, but it's either that or I try and grapple you and your ax with my bare hands.

"Heh, looks like you've got some attitude. I like that, when my prey has the balls enough to talk back to me. It'll make it all the more satisfying when I rip your head clean off your shoulders." He sneers. "Now, are we going to do this or not? I'm on a very tight schedule, so I need to get down to killing you as soon as possible."

"Fine by me!" I snap before pressing forward as fast as I can manage. My body is, at least, capable of physical feats that normal humans would not be able to achieve on their own, but what I was given was exceptionally a lot less than those who were specifically designed to be more offensive. That and I'm about 99% sure someone of my stature would have a difficult time no matter what their physical prowess was when put up against muscles here. But if I'm going to do something as stupid as try and fight a guy several times my size, I might as well put my all into it no matter how bad the odds seem.

As swift as I possibly can, I swing my weapon in his direction once I've gotten close enough, traveling in a more serpentine motion to try and make blocking my assault more difficult. But, even still, instead of flesh my blade meets the metal of his ax and I'm sent flying backward, pushed back so easily I might as well have been nothing at all. I manage to relocate my footing after falling onto the ground and rolling back a few good feet before launching myself back at Predator once again. Again he knocks me back. And again I continue my assault. Each time I feel more and more winded, but my opponent hardly seems to have even broken a sweat.

"I'm getting real tired of this. It's like I'm swatting away a fly." He groans as I move to attack him one last time. Before I can try and leap out of the way, he lifts his leg instead of his weapon and strikes me in the chest with his knee, knocking every bit of wind out of my lungs and leaving me breathless. Another split second passes before he knocks me away using the side of his weapon where the blade of the ax isn't facing, sending me tumbling backward out into the rain.

I struggle to catch my breath, coughing and wheezing and at the same time feeling like I'm getting drowned by the rain. I roll over as fast as I can onto my hands and knees, only to feel a sharp, mind-shattering pain bloom in my side. Breathing still ragged and uneven I look to the source of the pain, coming to find my own blade is now buried in my side. It must have gotten lodged in there during my fall. I feel nauseous. My attempts to try and get to my feet die for a moment as I go almost totally limp, my forehead pressed against the wet ground as I clutch at my side. It's buried almost all the way to the hilt, puncturing god knows what beneath my skin. The unfamiliar taste of my own blood fills my mouth.

"Nng- AAH!" I cry out when I attempt to try and yank it out. The moment my fingers brush against the handle, another wave of pain overtakes me. The pain is almost paralyzing.

"What's the matter, down for the count already?" Predator laughs mockingly as his shadow falls over me. "I figured you'd last at least a few minutes more than this."

My entire body shivers as I squeeze my eyes shut. It hurts to move with my knife buried deep in my side. If I hope to continue, I'll have to remove it. Wrapping my fingers around the handle, the pain is so intense I feel like vomiting.

"At the very least I'll commend your stupid, pointless bravery and give you a swift death." My tormenter laughs above me, raising his ax. "I'm sure you've done enough suffering already."

With a sharp, deep inhale I clench my teeth and rip the blade from out of my body, managing to roll away in time just before the blade of the ax makes contact with my body. It digs deep into the ground beneath it, reducing cement to pebbles below him. My attacker looking clearly surprised I'd managed to get away, I know this would probably be the only chance I might get. Charging immediately back toward him, I thrust my hand forward, clutching the now blood-soaked knife and hoping I'm able to puncture something below that thick layer of muscle.

However, it's my turn to be surprised as Predator lets go of his ax and instead reaches out and clutches my hand in his. My blade digs into his palm, but it's hardly a wound that will reward me with even the slightest hint of victory. And now he has my hand in a tight, painful grip, holding me in place.

"You might as well just give up." He smirks. "You're only prolonging what should have happened ages ago. I promised you a quick, painless death- you'll regret not taking me up on my offer." And with that he clenches his fist, and a hallow, sickening series of cracks reaches my ears. For a split second I feel nothing, my eyes wide as I watch him crush my hand as if it were nothing. I wish for nothing more than that split second to just continue on. I know what's coming after.

"GAAH!" I cry out, pain shooting up my arm. The world spins before my eyes and I feel I might pass out as I scream, unable to do much else. Should I struggle or try and free myself he'll probably break my arm. Though I'm surprised I'm able to produce such a rational thought. Every other thought that goes through my head is just an agonized scream. "AAAAAAUGH! FUCK!"

"I'm just getting warmed up. Having every bone in your hand reduced to dust is going to seem like a luxury when I'm through with you!" Predator sneers before he jerks me to the side and them lifts me into the air. My feet leave the ground as he chucks me to the side. I feel my arm become completely dislocated from my shoulder, but before I even can cry out in excruciation my body collides with a nearby wall and for a brief second I black out.

In that brief moment I see Liliana's face.

"_If you die, I'll never forgive you!"_

I come to finding myself being lifted into the air shortly before I feel my air being cut off. Fully waking up I come to find Predator pressing me against the wall and holding me aloft by my throat, choking me. I lift my one good arm, trying to free myself. I know I don't have much time, seeing as I can hardly get a single breath of air into my already burning lungs. My head already feels light as I feebly squirm.

"You know, my only instructions were to bring Vitality back alive. So long as she's still breathing when I drag her back to Dominaria, I can do whatever I want with her. And if she's as they say, no amount of pain or torture would kill her." He says with a sick smile stretched from ear to ear. "But, I'm sure..." He pauses, licking his lips. "I can think of something that would _break_ her."

"You... monster..." I hardly am able to muster, my hand dropping back limply at my side. My limbs are growing numb and every little sensation seems distant, like I'm not fully present.

"What was that?" Predator leans in, still grinning. "I couldn't quite hear you." Much to my surprise, it seems he could grip my throat even tighter than he had before. A desperate wheeze escapes me as drool oozes from my mouth and down my chin.

"I... said..." I whisper before summoning up what little reserves of energy I have left to make one final struggle. "YOU MONSTER!"

As my hand had dropped, I'd come to find he'd been holding me against the wall adjacent to a shattered window. It was all the work of luck that my hand had fount a jagged edge and that Predator had been distracted enough not to notice as I grab the glass in my hands, break it off from the frame and lash out, striking him across the face.

He bellows more in surprise and anger than pain as he lets me go to grab at his face. I fall limply to the ground, coughing and sputtering and writhing. The pain from my injuries had dulled while I had been in Predator's clutches, but now it was all slowly coming back, keeping me glued to the spot as I groaned in agony. I clutched at my side with my good hand while my dislocated arm hung uselessly at my side. The entire one side of my body is soaked with blood, and the pungent smell of it assaults my nostrils as my senses sharpen slowly, one by one. And there is no way in hell I'm even going to look at my completely broken hand.

I had forced my attacker back, but I'm nowhere out of the woods.

"YOU BASTARD!" Predator howls. He clutches one side of his face, blood oozing through the cracks in his fingers. It seems I'd managed to strike him across his eye. If I die here, at least I'll die knowing I partially blinded the guy. Through my pain I feel the faint flutter of accomplishment."I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Come at me then..." I wheeze as I slowly rise to my feet. I can feel my legs already beginning to buckle, but I refuse to let myself fall back to the ground. I prop myself against the wall, never once breaking eye contact with my aggressor. "No one's stopping you."

I must be insane, goading the bastard on. I can hardly move now, and blood loss and just barely escaping being choked to death are taking it's toll. I might be able to leap out of the way of one attack, but I honestly can't think of anything else. There's nothing around anymore that I could use as a weapon, and in my state I can't even hope to fight back. The pain from my injuries assaults my brain to the point where I can't even devise some sort of scheme. I'm all out of options, and yet I'm egging muscles here on. I must _really_ be insane.

Predator lets out a furious, animal-like battle cry as he reaches out and pulls his ax from out of the ground before charging my way. Like I had suspected, I manage to duck out of the way as he swings his weapon at me, totally demolishing the wall I'd used to lean against instead of my body. And, just like I suspected, I know right away I won't be able to do it again. I stumble forward, trying and failing to find proper footing before tumbling back onto the ground. Even though I know it's futile, I attempt to try and pry myself from up off the ground on quivering limbs.

"I think that's enough struggling out of you." My opponent growls angrily as I feel a weight press down on my back and forces me back down against the ground. Judging by how it feels, I'm guessing it's one of his gigantic feet. I try to squirm out from under the weight, but it only causes him to respond by putting even more of his weight on my back. A choked gasp escapes me as pain shoots up my spine.

"N...No..." I mutter, reaching out with my good arm and clawing at the earth as I try to pull myself away. I only succeed in doing some serious damage to my fingernails and hurting my arm. Predator laughs a dark, victorious laugh above me, and I can see in the reflections of the puddles all around me that he's lifted the ax once more.

"Any last words you want me to take back to Vitality?" He asks with a chuckle.

"Tell her... that I'm sorry."

"I'll be sure to deliver the message before I have my way with her."

I hear the rush of air from him swinging down his weapon, a dull thunk then...

Nothingness.

* * *

><p>Dull shapes and shadows welcome my vision as I open my eyes. My eyesight is blurry at first, and it's almost impossible to process anything. Next come my ears, picking up sounds I could only describe as low, tired moaning and a lot of it. Sight slowly returning to me, I came to find Predator slowly being backed up into a corner by a mob slowly shambling towards him.<p>

"I said get the fuck away!" He shouts, swinging his ax, severing limbs and heads from bodies and knocking a few of the members of the mob to the ground. Much to my horrified amazement, though, they continue- armless, headless, and major body parts bent and broken into painful shapes. "Why won't you just die!"

The mob makes their way to him despite his attempts to hinder their progression. Some bodies are reduced to almost nothing, but if they at least had hands they reach up and grab at him, fingers digging into his skin and forcing him down. His screams of agony reach my ears as the hoard of the undying drag him to the ground and out of sight.

"Shit..." I mutter, attempting to get away while the mob is occupied doing the unspeakable to Predator.

But I can't move.

It only occurs to me now that I actually can't feel any part of my body. I try to move my arms, nothing. I try to move myself upright and onto my feet. No response. I try the simplest of thing and try to just wiggle my fingers or my toes. Absolutely nothing.

"What the hell..." I begin to panic before I notice something just barely in my line of vision. At first I can't quite identify it, but then I recognize it right away. If I could vomit, I would have, but that would involve the use of my stomach, which, at this time, I don't have. Because there, lying very, very far away from my head, is my body.

"Fuck!" I cry, looking around frantically. "What the... _what the fuck_!?"

"Jace!" I gasp, hearing a familiar voice that, for a moment, calms all of my fears. I turn my gaze upward, finding Liliana looming over me. "Jace, I need you to calm down for me, okay?"

"What the hell is going on! Please, I... my body... I'm..." I can't find the words, and I'm reduced to making quick, panicked noises as I look between Liliana and what I can only assume is my body that my head has been, somehow, completely removed from without it killing me.

"Jace, please, I need you to calm down." Liliana insisted as she reached down and cupped my face in her hands. I watch helplessly, still solidly panicking, as I'm lifted up to bring us face to face. "Everything's going to be okay. I just need you to please just _calm down!_"

"I... I..." I stammer, now able to look down and see absolutely nothing beneath me. No arms, no legs, no body. Just a head Liliana is holding gingerly in her hands, as if I'll break... which, actually, is mighty accurate to how I feel. "I'm... I'm just a head!"

"Clearly..."

"_WHY!?_"

"Look, if I tell you, will you promise to calm down?"

"I... I don't..." is all I can manage.

"Ugh, I guess that's the best I'm going to get." Liliana sighs as she shakes her head. "My powers as Vitality aren't limited to my ability to heal myself. I was also given the ability to somehow bring the dead back to life, although most of the time they're just shells that do whatever I want and then die when I don't need them. You died shortly after we tried to escape from Dominaria. I'm not sure how I or you managed it, but you were able to keep your sense of self. I really didn't want you to find out like this..."

"So... So I..."

"You've been dead all along, Jace. You've been dead since we escaped."

* * *

><p>There's no way we'd be able to get into a hotel, what with my head tucked under Liliana's arm and my body getting dragged behind her. So, as I come to for about the tenth time that evening, I come to find we're surrounded by nothing but darkness, a meager fire providing only enough light for me to see Liliana riffling through what appears to be a first aid box. She must have swiped it from somewhere while I was out, since we'd had nothing close to even bandages last I checked.<p>

I have no idea what happened to Predator, but part of me thinks I really shouldn't even bother asking. Dead or alive or... somewhere in between, we wound up getting away.

"Lili..." I mumble. She snaps up, turning to me and looking relieved.

"Finally you're awake. I thought I finally lost you. It's really impossible to tell since, well, you don't have much of a pulse." She says with a smile, retrieving a needle and thread from the box and shuffling over to me. "...I'm really sorry... about all of this."

I choose not to respond and watch as she pokes the needle into my skin, pulling the thread through and continuing the motion in an almost liquid manner, like she'd done a considerable amount of sewing before. Looking down, it seems she at least had placed my head carefully back on my body, and is now doing what she can to keep it there on my shoulders. I still can't feel or move my body- I might as well be situated on top of an inanimate object.

"...Where are we... exactly?" I finally speak up.

"Oh, um... I think we're in an old subway tunnel. The trains obviously don't run anymore, and the entrance to this place was boarded up to hell when I found it, so I don't think anyone is going to come down and disturb us." She explained, continuing to sew and slowly moving into my peripheral to the point where I can no longer just follow her with my eyes. I, instead, look to the fire burning low and drenching hardly anything around us in a weak, orange glow. "Which, I guess, will be good for us. It's going to take a while before everything reattaches and fixes itself. Your body really took a beating... you need to rest."

"Liliana..." I interrupt her. "...How long were you going to wait to tell me that I... you know... died?"

"..." Liliana stays silent at first, busying herself with her sewing.

"Did you not think the topic would eventually come up?"

"I'm sorry. I don't think I'll ever be able to say enough that I'm sorry for what I did to you. I trapped you in this world with me, even though that wasn't my intention. I just... needed help. I wanted someone... a companion. There was no way I'd be able to face the world alone. So I panicked when you were killed in our escape and brought you back. I was surprised you were still exactly the same, like nothing had ever happened, so I guess... I decided to carry on that way, too." She sighs, positioning herself back in front of me, hanging her head in shame. "Part of me wanted the issue to never come up. I ignored it and pushed it back. Because I knew that, once you found out what I'd done to you... you would hate me."

"Hate you?"

"I dragged you back from eternal slumber to stay with me and suffer. You could have escaped all this if it wasn't for me. You could have really, truly found freedom." She mutters. "It was... selfish of me. I guess I always do stupid, selfish things, don't I?"

"Liliana..." I bite my lip before grunting, straining every bit of myself to find my body I've been reattached to.

"Jace, stop, you'll only strain yourself. It will be days before you'll be able to move your-" Liliana begins to protest before my hand slowly, shakily reaches up and caresses her cheek. Beads of sweat form on my forehead as I struggle to keep my hand aloft. I can just barely feel the sensation of her smooth skin against my fingers. "J...Jace..." She reaches up in tern, holding my hand against her cheek. I allow my arm to go limp, losing all connection with it once again and leaving her to keep it held upward.

"I love you, Lili. None of that has changed, not even now. I'd never be able to bring myself to hate you for anything." I assure her with a smile. "I think, if you had let me pass on, I would have been miserable without you. All of this... is really surreal, and even now I can hardly believe it... but if it involves keeping you in my life, I guess I'll have to eventually come to accept it."

"Jace... I..." Tears begin to form in her eyes. "...I love you."

"And I you, Liliana." A say to her in the most soothing voice I can muster. "At least now I can say with complete honestly that I'll love you and stay by your side _forever_."


End file.
